Christ Jesus taught many valuable lessons by the forceful and intelligent use of parables. His pure spirituality, together with his great love for mankind, manifested in a deep longing to heal, redeem, and make clear the way of a complete salvation for all throughout all time, motivated his mighty mission. Jesus, the master Christian and Metaphysician, pointed the way for all to follow, in order that the healing, saving, and redeeming power of the Christ, the illimitable godliness which animated and dominated his being, might be made practical and fruitful in the experience of every individual.
We find recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew the parable of the talents. Jesus relates in this story that a man entrusted to his servants the care and use of certain amounts of money while he was away on a journey. Upon his return he called each servant to render an account of his stewardship, expecting to receive a reasonable profit from the wise management of the funds and the intelligent activity of the servant, whom he trusted.
Two of the servants were faithful, unafraid, and active. Both of them recognized the value of what had been given them and wisely utilized it. The other servant, being afraid and apparently indigent, slothful, as well as negligent, failed to appreciate the worth of his talent and did not recognize the opportunity to use it successfully. He hid his one talent in the ground and gained nothing but the rebuke of his master; whereas the just and faithful servants were commended and amply rewarded.
Christian Science, as discovered and founded by Mary Baker Eddy, reveals clearly the truth that God, divine Mind, has given to each of His ideas many and beautiful talents, manifestations of His goodness, power, and grace, which we are to recognize and intelligently utilize because we are actually His witnesses, His reflection, the evidence and expression of God's being. In the Scriptures we have ample authority for the just claim that God gives all good and gives it abundantly. The gifts of divine Love are many and varied. John declared (1:16), "Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." God expresses in man, His full representation, all of Mind's divine qualities or ideas, and in Science man is understood to be the compound idea of Mind, infinite Spirit, in which is included every right idea, and absolutely nothing else.
We should all be continuously about the business of our Father-Mother God; in other words, we should recognize the inestimable value of the spiritual ideas reflected by man as the image, the perfect likeness, of God and intelligently utilize these ideas in human experience to the glory of God and for the benefit of our fellow beings. Our beloved Leader writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 323), "If 'faithful over a few things,' we shall be made rulers over many; but the one unused talent decays and is lost." How important it is, then, that we improve our God-given talents, lest they be lost and we find ourselves like the slothful servant who received no reward, but, rather, a merited rebuke.
Deep in our hearts should ever abide an honest, fervent desire to understand God and to be humbly obedient to Him. We should unfailingly cherish the earnest longing steadfastly to follow in the footsteps of the Way-shower, Christ Jesus, even though the way may at times seem steep and rugged. With genuine love and heartfelt gratitude we should patiently, lovingly, joyously, endeavor to discern and demonstrate the spiritually scientific teachings of Christian Science, as clearly revealed by God to the revelator of this age, Mrs. Eddy, and correctly stated in her writings.
Wise and loving counsel is found in this pronouncement by Mrs. Eddy on page 260 of Science and Health: "Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already done." This glorious discovery brings the conviction that all that has been done, all that is made, is the work of God, and it is very good. God is infinite Mind, the only Mind of man. Therefore man, by reflection, possesses and utilizes the power, wisdom, goodness, and love of divine Mind. Mrs. Eddy clearly indicates the unlimited potentialities of man as the reflection of God when she makes it plain that the possibilities of God become man's by divine reflection.
The scientific understanding of Christianity, revealed through Christian Science, makes clear to all that healing the sick is today an indispensable part of the Christian religion, even as it was in the first century of the Christian era. Students of Christian Science naturally cannot avoid the definite, clear call of their religion, resounding through the corridors of time for all to hear and heed: "Heal the sick!" Healing the sick as well as the sinner is included in a complete salvation, as it was evidenced in the life and works of Christ Jesus. However, now as then, the essential requirement for every individual who would be a clear transparency for the healing Christ, is government by God alone.
Willing obedience to God, divine Principle, and joyful acceptance of His righteous and harmonious government of man and the universe enable one to recognize and utilize the divine energies of Spirit in the overcoming of erroneous beliefs. Just as the sunlight is instantly ready to enter any darkened room the moment the blinds are drawn and the shades lifted, so God's healing power is ever ready to flood human consciousness with the light of Truth and destroy whatever is unlike infinite good, revealing in place thereof the blessings of God-bestowed health and peace. The individualization of infinite power is one's priceless privilege and opportunity, if he fulfills the requirement—namely, spiritualization of thought to the degree that human consciousness is kept in constant relationship with the divine.
A woman living in the western part of the United States, and well known to the writer, was suffering from what appeared to be a serious and very troublesome disease. She was an earnest student of Christian Science and relied radically upon this Science for healing. She had no physical diagnosis by a physician, but the apparent manifestations of the difficulty were such as to point to the belief of infection of the lower limbs, due to varicose ulcers. There was also the appearance of gangrenous infection. The services of a Christian Science practitioner were secured; but this intrepid and faithful student maintained a dutiful watch at the door of her own thought and steadfastly refused to acknowledge disease or error to be real or necessary. During this experience, which was truly a testing time for her, this woman gained a conclusive realization that Spirit is the only real substance and that the formations and ideas of Spirit are the only realities of being. Also, her thought was uplifted and corrected to the extent that there was a complete abandonment of the belief that resentment, disgust, and condemnation, seemingly directed toward her and her family, had power to harm, or any actual existence. Several months elapsed before the last vestige of the error vanished, but a complete healing was experienced.
In the utilization of one's spiritual understanding of Christian Science it is important not to disbelieve or doubt the power and effectiveness of the truth which is being declared and realized. There must be faith and confidence in one's treatment. As we become more vividly conscious of the truth that every right and spiritual thought originates in divine Mind, and that man reflects this Mind only, any doubt or mistrust of our treatment will be eliminated. This admonition, found in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, is important: "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Let no one be dismayed because he has not reached the heights of instant demonstration in every situation with which he may be confronted. Let us all take courage from the fact that man's sufficiency is of God and that God alone gives the increase. Our Leader also gives us loving encouragement in this statement, found on page 462 of Science and Health: "Some individuals assimilate truth more readily than others, but any student, who adheres to the divine rules of Christian Science and imbibes the spirit of Christ, can demonstrate Christian Science, cast out error, heal the sick, and add continually to his store of spiritual understanding, potency, enlightenment, and success."
In demonstrating Christian Science four important words should have a prominent place in consciousness. These words are: awake, recognize, accept, and utilize. Each individual must first of all awaken to the truth of spiritual being; he should recognize the facts of real existence; he should accept lovingly and joyfully the responsibilities and blessings clearly revealed to him by Christian Science; and, lastly, he should intelligently and actively utilize his God-bestowed talent or ability to demonstrate Christian Mind-healing.
